BUFFALO – In a game fitting of a rivalry that is now over a century old, it would be Canisius that prevailed in overtime, 84-80, over the St. Bonaventure men's basketball team Saturday night at the Koessler Center.

Tahj Staveskie posted nine points in the extra period while Xzavier Long and Jordan Henderson finished with 19 points apiece for the game as the Griffs snuck past the Bonnies in a game that was never separated by more than single digits.

Daryl Banks III scored 14 of his game-high 22 points after intermission, also handing out three assists for the Bonnies. Kyrell Luc posted 13 points and a career-high nine assists with Anouar Mellouk chipping in a personal high of 13 points as well.

The Little Three rivals, meeting for the 170^th time since 1920, exchanged 14 lead changes and nine ties during a night where there were few true momentum swings, rather just a prolonged back-and-forth battle.

The Bonnies (1-1) led by six, their largest lead of the night, with under eight minutes to go following a 7-0 sprint capped by a trey from Luc.

Long drained a three of his own out of a media timeout, however, to bring the score back to within three.

After a pair of Banks free throws, Canisius posted the next five for a 57-all tie.

The last time the Bonnies would have breathing room came with 2:14 remaining as Chad Venning called bank on a long jumper at the end of the shot clock for a 65-61 advantage.

The Bonnies would find themselves down a point with under 25 seconds to play, though, when Venning worked his way to the line and tied the game at 66-66.

A Bona's defensive stop gave the visitors a chance at a last-second heave, but it fell short as the teams went to overtime.

The first five points of the extra period went to the Griffs, setting the tone for overtime.

A Banks trey with 28 seconds remaining gave the Bonnies a flicker of life, 77-73. Canisius made one of two at the line and Banks again rained in a three-pointer for a two-point deficit.

With 12 seconds on the clock, Staveskie made good on both free throw attempts to put the game at a two-possession spread again.

Banks hit his third trey in the waning seconds with under five seconds to go to give Bona's one last gasp.  

The Bonnies' efforts at quickly turning over the Griffs went for naught, though, and the hosts were able to hold on.

Yann Farell quickly drained his first two collegiate field goals for the opening five points to begin a table-setting back-and-forth first half.

Bona's shot 45 percent to Canisius' 41 percent from the floor and owned a plus-four margin on the boards in the opening 20 minutes, but the Griffs drained five threes to take a one-point edge, 34-33, to the locker room.
 
GAME NOTES

• St. Bonaventure shot nearly 48 percent from the floor while the Griffs finished at a 45 percent clip. Canisius went 11-for-22 from long range, though, as opposed to Bona's 6-for-18.
• Canisius also held an advantage at the charity stripe where the Griffs finished 21-for-32. The Bonnies, conversely, were 16-for-23.
• SBU won the battle of the boards, 39-32, and held a 36-22 advantage in the paint.
• Luc played 43 minutes, another career-high for the sophomore transfer.
• Venning registered 11 points off the bench.
• Barry Evans posted eight points, five rebounds and two steals.
• SBU now leads the all-time series 102-68 but has lost three straight overall in the city of Buffalo dating to 2019.
• Saturday marked the first true non-conference road game for the Bonnies in over two years.
   

QUOTES FROM HEAD COACH MARK SCHMIDT
"Give Canisius credit, they shot the ball really well from 3. I thought we had some breakdowns defensively. When you score 80 points, you should win, but our defense wasn't very good. Canisius made some tough shots. We showed some toughness late to make it a game and fought back, but we have to get better. We have a long way to go and our guys are still learning."

"We gave up 18 points in five minutes (during overtime), so we didn't lose the game from an offensive standpoint. Canisius made some tough shots, but we have to get better defensively."

"We have to get back in the gym. We're young, we're going to make mistakes and we're going to grow. We need to learn from the mistakes today and use them to get better."

UP NEXT
St. Bonaventure has a quick turnaround, traveling across the country to play South Dakota State in a "neutral court" game in Sioux Falls. The contest slated for Tuesday night at the Sanford Pentagon is approximately 50 miles from SDSU's campus. Tipoff is slated for 8 p.m. Eastern, 7 p.m. Central.

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